The summer is barely over, but Christmas has come early in the inbox of Ocado and Waitrose shoppers.
Ocado, the online retailer which delivers Waitrose goods, has contacted its top customers urging them to book a slot for festive food deliveries from 8 October – a full 11 weeks before Christmas and a week earlier than last year. Loyal shoppers who have paid for a priority shopping pass and are prepared to spend at least £90 on their order are being given a chance to reserve their delivery slot before anyone else and offered potential free delivery on 20 December.
Waitrose.com has also begun contacting shoppers about how to book a delivery slot for Christmas – it will be open for bookings from 15 October – fully 10 weeks before the big day.
Shoppers expressed consternation on social media, with Ocado facing criticism for offering some customers’ priority depending on the kind of annual delivery pass they have signed up for and how long they have been signed up.
@Ocado - shame on you for giving people different book delivery slot days for Christmas! I am the 15th others the 8th. Why?
— Jennifer Ann Duncan (@jenniferduncan) September 25, 2015
The two supermarkets are wrestling for customers as the battle for online sales will be hotter than ever among the UK’s top grocers this year. While sales are falling in big supermarkets, they are rising online and all the big players want to ensure as large a slice of the action as possible.
Tesco said shoppers who had signed up to its Delivery Saver scheme – in which they pay a monthly subscription for as many deliveries as they want over a year – would be able to book their Christmas delivery slot from the end of November – about a week earlier than other shoppers.
Morrisons is also offering its delivery pass shoppers priority booking over Christmas with two deliveries between 20 December and 24 December included in the annual fee.
Sainsbury’s is not giving its annual delivery pass shoppers priority on festive orders – anyone can book a slot three weeks in advance of when they want to receive their shopping.
Asda has yet to confirm its plans.
The rush to secure orders over the most important week of the year for UK retailers comes after a series of glitches and disrupted deliveries last year. Just a few days before Christmas, Sainsbury’s accidentally cancelled hundreds of online orders after a computer failure while Waitrose.com shoppers were also let down after a glitch on the website.
Marks & Spencer and delivery company Yodel, which delivers for retailers including Amazon, Argos, Boots and Tesco Direct, also had problems after being overwhelmed with orders over the Black Friday discount weekend in late November.
•This article was amended on 28 September 2015. An earlier version stated Ocado was urging customers to book a slot by 8 October. This has now been corrected.
